How hot is too hot, for my bottling bucket?

[pnj]

I will be brewing tomorrow, if all goes as planned....

I have to juggle pots and pans and buckets because I don't have a large enough brew pot. I will be doing a batch sparge and want to know if it's ok to use my bottling bucket to drain the sparge water into? I will probably need to put about 3 gallons or less in it.

If that won't work, can I use my glass carboy? or will the sparge water be too hot for that as well?

thanks.

 

[ChshreCat]

I'd put it in the bucket before the carboy. Glass carboys have a tendency to crack and possibly assplode when you dump hot liquids in them.

 

[mc_eric]

Your bottling bucket should be just fine. I've poured 175 degree wort into ale pales before with no problem whatsoever. No warpage of the bucket, no plastic flavors in the beer, nothin.

And, like ChshreCat said, don't use the carboy. After all, I think I'd rather risk a plastic bucket than a glass carboy.

 

[pnj]

Great. good to know. thanks guys!

 

[PortageeExpress]

I've used buckets for sparge water before and have never had a problem.

Definitely don't use the carboy.

 

[Nurmey]

I use one of my buckets to drain my mash tun all the time. I also pour boiling sugar water into my bucket and it doesn't do a thing to it either.

Definitely do not put anything hot in your glass carboy. Glass assplosions = a bad day.

 

[wormsgetsold]

+1 on bucket being ok.

 

[JohnnyO]

Hmm. I almost posted this same question this past weekend when I did my first partial mash. I had the same problem. I have my 5 gallon SS pot and a 2 gallon SS pot. I was hoping to use the 2 gallon in the process, but it was too small to mash in.

I figured I would be going AG for my next batch, so I ended up picking up a 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler (to later be converted into my MLT). I brought about 3.5 gallons up to 177 degrees and stashed it in the cooler. I then brought 1 gallon to temp in the 5 gallon pot and mashed in there. Put the mash in the 2 gallon pot. I then sparged in the 5 gallon pot....

Just a thought. It worked for me, and I'm now prepared to go AG.

Reason why I decided against pouring the 175 degree water in the Ale Pale is because I read about concerns of carcinogens being released if this is done in a plastic container. Why I didn't put 2 + 2 together to see that the cooler is made of plastic too is beyond me.

 

[JMSetzler]

I'd put it in the bucket before the carboy. Glass carboys have a tendency to crack and possibly assplode when you dump hot liquids in them.

I gotta quit reading these forums when I'm drinking

 

[ChshreCat]

Giggity!!!

 

[Bobby_M]

The buckets are HDPE.

I found this online (so it must be true ;-)

What is the maximum temperature at which HDPE can be used?

UNI EN 1519-1 standards indicate 95°C (203F), whereas the softening point, namely the temperature which causes the piece to deform corresponds to 125°C. Therefore, even temperature peaks exceeding 95°C do not create problems.

 

[david_42]

When I started doing AG, I put the sparge water in my bottling bucket and hoisted it above the mash tun with a pulley. Used the spigot to control sparge rate.

 

[pnj]

well, I found a 20 quart tamale steamer for 25 bucks so I don't need to worry about the bucket now. but it's good to know I can use it later, if needed...

 

[ChshreCat]

well, I found a 20 quart tamale steamer for 25 bucks so I don't need to worry about the bucket now. but it's good to know I can use it later, if needed...

Was that one of them from wally world? I just got one over the weekend. I can't use it to brew until I build an IC because the pot won't fit in my sink!

 

[pnj]

it's from K-mart...

 

[youngson616]

When I started doing AG, I put the sparge water in my bottling bucket and hoisted it above the mash tun with a pulley. Used the spigot to control sparge rate.

Gonna try this on my first AG batch this weekend!